waseem/vof.txt

## vof.txt
The journey has a humble beginning at ISBT Kashmeri Gate with one egg roll in our hands and a few water bottles. It gets interesting and scary after a few kilometers off of Rishikesh when our jeep driver is found smoking marijuana. He tells us his sad life story in a very funny way and casually mentions that it is the most dangerous road he has ever driven a vehicle on. And he had driven across several parts of the country. He shows us Tota Ghati(Parrot Valley) where "Acchey achchon ke totey udd jatey hain gadi chalatey waqt". I look in the abyss and notice that there is only a gap of half foot between the wheels of the jeep and a certain death hundreds of meters down below in Alaknanda river. "Agar yahan gire to seedhey Haridwar mein milengey", a friend quips.

On our way we find an Australian who is making a documentary on mining around the Ganges basin. "The driver is stoned", she says. A couple of minutes later we dodge a truck during a blind turn. We ask our driver to calm down. He does not listen. He shows us Pataal Ganga and Pagal Nala. We pray to the Gods that we believe in to help us reach our destination safely. We finally reach Govindghat.

The weather is really cold. The water is colder. We are so tired that we don't even change our clothes and crash right in our beds. In the morning we start our long journey to Ghangharia. It's only a fourteen kilometer long hilly terrain we thought. It would take only six hours for young and relatively healthy group of four we assumed. We underestimated it by four hours. We took ten hours.

The road to Ghangharia from Govindghat is filled with dirt, rocks, flowers, constant noise of Pushpawati river and constant smell of horse manure. The only thing motivating us is our own constant will to reach the small village on foot. The horse owners constantly look at us with sympathy and ask "Bhaiji ghodey?" "Bhaiji ghodey?". The only thing stopping us from taking this journey on horses were our own will to reach the village on foot and company of Sikh pilgrims who were going to Hemkund Sahib. Some of them were around seventy. One of them did not bring his shoes, "Jootey pehnney he nahin they to laya he nahin".

We stop at a couple of small dhabas on our way to eat lunch and while we eat lunch, we see the beauty of Nanda Devi mountain range separating India from China and Nepal.
The last three kilometers are the most precarious. The sun is setting. There is little water in the bottles. And it had been almost seven hours for us carrying ten kilogram bags on our backs. We somehow gather last of our strengths and keep walking. We say, "I", "have", "to", "move" with our every step and keep on moving. The trail mix of dry fruits we prepared for this trek was being utilized to its every bite. We finally reach Ghangharia and sleep right after eating dinner.

In the morning we walk around the village and eat our breakfast. We find a bunch of Sikh pilgrims with us. The hot shower in the morning is something that I'll never forget. We learn from our mistake and pack only two day packs just with essentials. Rain coats, biscuits, chips, trail mix, some anti altitude sickness medicines and a couple of bandages also only one water bottle. We start our walk to the Valley of Flowers it's three kilometers from Ghangharia. Just three kilometers.

Within first hundred meters the trek starts beating us. We are breathless and we start licking Glucose off of our hands and drink up all our water. Thankfully the water stream of Lakshman Ganga river is right along the trek. We fill our bottle directly from the river. The water is some of the sweetest I've ever tasted. We finish those three kilometers in almost four and a half hours. That's just a little more than the twice the speed of a giant turtle. On our way we hear the noise of Lakshman ganga river and constant sound of Gurubani coming from Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara. These were our constant companion.

When we reach our destination, we remove our packs and munch on the Parle-G biscuits, trail mix and fresh water from the Lakshman Ganga with our friends. And we experience the views that no photograph can ever justify.
	The journey has a humble beginning at ISBT Kashmeri Gate with one egg roll in our hands and a few water bottles. It gets interesting and scary after a few kilometers off of Rishikesh when our jeep driver is found smoking marijuana. He tells us his sad life story in a very funny way and casually mentions that it is the most dangerous road he has ever driven a vehicle on. And he had driven across several parts of the country. He shows us Tota Ghati(Parrot Valley) where "Acchey achchon ke totey udd jatey hain gadi chalatey waqt". I look in the abyss and notice that there is only a gap of half foot between the wheels of the jeep and a certain death hundreds of meters down below in Alaknanda river. "Agar yahan gire to seedhey Haridwar mein milengey", a friend quips.

	On our way we find an Australian who is making a documentary on mining around the Ganges basin. "The driver is stoned", she says. A couple of minutes later we dodge a truck during a blind turn. We ask our driver to calm down. He does not listen. He shows us Pataal Ganga and Pagal Nala. We pray to the Gods that we believe in to help us reach our destination safely. We finally reach Govindghat.

	The weather is really cold. The water is colder. We are so tired that we don't even change our clothes and crash right in our beds. In the morning we start our long journey to Ghangharia. It's only a fourteen kilometer long hilly terrain we thought. It would take only six hours for young and relatively healthy group of four we assumed. We underestimated it by four hours. We took ten hours.

	The road to Ghangharia from Govindghat is filled with dirt, rocks, flowers, constant noise of Pushpawati river and constant smell of horse manure. The only thing motivating us is our own constant will to reach the small village on foot. The horse owners constantly look at us with sympathy and ask "Bhaiji ghodey?" "Bhaiji ghodey?". The only thing stopping us from taking this journey on horses were our own will to reach the village on foot and company of Sikh pilgrims who were going to Hemkund Sahib. Some of them were around seventy. One of them did not bring his shoes, "Jootey pehnney he nahin they to laya he nahin".

	We stop at a couple of small dhabas on our way to eat lunch and while we eat lunch, we see the beauty of Nanda Devi mountain range separating India from China and Nepal.
	The last three kilometers are the most precarious. The sun is setting. There is little water in the bottles. And it had been almost seven hours for us carrying ten kilogram bags on our backs. We somehow gather last of our strengths and keep walking. We say, "I", "have", "to", "move" with our every step and keep on moving. The trail mix of dry fruits we prepared for this trek was being utilized to its every bite. We finally reach Ghangharia and sleep right after eating dinner.

	In the morning we walk around the village and eat our breakfast. We find a bunch of Sikh pilgrims with us. The hot shower in the morning is something that I'll never forget. We learn from our mistake and pack only two day packs just with essentials. Rain coats, biscuits, chips, trail mix, some anti altitude sickness medicines and a couple of bandages also only one water bottle. We start our walk to the Valley of Flowers it's three kilometers from Ghangharia. Just three kilometers.

	Within first hundred meters the trek starts beating us. We are breathless and we start licking Glucose off of our hands and drink up all our water. Thankfully the water stream of Lakshman Ganga river is right along the trek. We fill our bottle directly from the river. The water is some of the sweetest I've ever tasted. We finish those three kilometers in almost four and a half hours. That's just a little more than the twice the speed of a giant turtle. On our way we hear the noise of Lakshman ganga river and constant sound of Gurubani coming from Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara. These were our constant companion.

	When we reach our destination, we remove our packs and munch on the Parle-G biscuits, trail mix and fresh water from the Lakshman Ganga with our friends. And we experience the views that no photograph can ever justify.